Expectations
by Daring Dashwood
Summary: Sometimes, fathers can expect too much.


**Expectations**

A Dragon Ball Z Fanfic

One-shot

_Rating: K+_

_Takes place the night before future Trunks leaves for the future._

--

The two sat together in content silence, basking in the warm sun that filtered through the glade. Small, furry creatures scampered and crawled on Gohan, the boy laughing as a small bird landed on his head.

The other half-saiyan watched with growing amusement at the boy's fraternization with animals, a small smirk gracing his face.

"I love being out here," Gohan said airily, as if he was half sitting with Trunks and half in his own little world.

"I've noticed." The lilac haired teenager's grin widened, but it faded as he suddenly grew serious.

"How do you do it, Gohan?" he spoke nervously, almost timidly, and winced at his tone. Gohan hadn't noticed, still wrapped up in the nature, the animals.

The said raven haired half-saiyan blinked innocently.

"Do what, Trunks?" He asked, cocking his head to one side.

"Not collapse under the pressure."

The younger teen continued to look at the other bemusedly, still not understanding what Trunks was getting at. The violet haired adolescent exhaled slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose with his hand, before redirecting his eyes to the curious boy in front of him.

"Well, remember when your father called you out to fight against Cell?" Trunks winced slightly, mentally berating himself for mentioning Goku to the newly-fatherless Gohan. The boy didn't seem to mind, however, and gave a slight nod of affirmation.

"How could you not—I mean….never mind, just forget it."

A light flush rose to Trunks' cheeks, and he hastily got up, brushing stray strands of grass off his Capsule Corp. jeans.

_Stupid stupid stupid! _He mentally scolded himself. _Don't get Gohan messed up in your affairs! You're leaving for the future today anyway—why screw things up now!_

As he turned to leave Gohan's peaceful glade, the said teen pulled him to a halt with a firm yet gentle grip on his trademark jacket.

"Wait."

"No, Gohan, I really should be going—Mom will want to see me before I go." _But your _father _won't. And that's who you really want the attention from, right? _Trunks tried to will the voice away, but it still remained, like a crimson stain on a once-pristine white carpet.

"Trunks, _wait_."

The inky haired teen's commanding tone bitter-sweetly reminded him of _his _Gohan, the one who he let _die_. Trunks stiffened at the voice, and reluctantly sat back down.

Gohan looked him in the eye, his usually cheerful demeanor replaced with a serious one. Trunks was a valued friend in his eyes; he didn't want him returning to the future with an unbearable weight on his mind.

So he sat there, hands folded in his lap, waiting patiently for the other to scrape up the courage to say what he needed to.

It took roughly five minutes, but, at last, he began to speak. His voice was timid at first, but soon he found the words gushing out of his mouth in an almost jumbled blur, as if he'd been waiting for so long to let all of it out.

"How could you not, um…collapse under all the pressure your father put on you? Were you…_mad _that he had such high expectations for you? D-didn't you just want to scream at him?"

It was Gohan's turn to avert his eyes, a slightly guilty look passing over his face. He bit his lip, so hard Trunks feared he might draw blood.

"I—" the hybrid started, then paused, unsure. "I was….scared, Trunks. Really, really scared." Trunks observed how Gohan's voice started to become unsteady, something his Gohan did as well when he was suppressing a large emotion.

"I really wanted to help you guys, I wanted to unleash my so-called 'hidden power'—" Pure contempt laced the boy's words when mentioning his powers. "—but I…just _couldn't_. I'm not sure how you would describe it, Trunks—the unfathomable amount of sheer helplessness and desperation that I felt then. All of your lives….you _all _could've died. And I....for all of my power, I could not do a thing but watch."

Trunks frowned slightly at the bitterness seeping into the boy's tone; it wasn't like Goku's son to be so harsh, his regular encouraging aura of naïveté drowned in a bottomless pit of turmoil.

"Dad was always the hero, always the champion who always came out on top, despite the odds. You really don't need me to tell you that. For him to just thrust that responsibility of greatness onto me was…suffocating."

Gohan clenched and unclenched his fists as Trunks stared on, in awe of how complex Gohan really was. _I never….he always looked so simple and innocent. My God…_

"I was furious. He didn't even bother to _tell _me what he'd planned! My God, if it wasn't for Android 16…"

The boy trailed off, breathing deeply as if to calm the tension thickly coating the air around the two hybrids.

"Besides, with all that power at my disposal—" he looked at his hand distantly, as if he was staring through it. "I wasn't myself. The power got to my head, I got cocky, and that cost my Dad's life. And that overwhelming, insatiable urge for bloodshed…that's something I never want to experience ever again."

Gohan shuddered slightly, the tremor just barely visible; Trunks still caught it.

There was a long, drawn out, pregnant pause as Gohan recollected himself and then he turned back to Trunks, his cheerful demeanor and charming smile back in place.

"But, to answer your other question—you really shouldn't worry about Vegeta; he likes you—I just never let Dad's expectations drag me down. I mean, how can you expect to shine at all if you're stuck in someone else's shadow?"

That familiar pain lanced Trunks' heart; his Gohan always spouted cheesy and sappy things, even when things were looking grim, just like this Gohan.

The two sat together peacefully, simply enjoying the other's company as the afternoon gently faded to a silky dusk. Trunks was the first to rise; he stretched his limbs, and gave his friend one last glance.

"Thanks, Gohan. For everything. I'll…I'll see you around, okay?"

And the two went their separate ways, the burdens on their shoulders lifted.

--

"Make sure you tell the future me how hot I am! And are you _sure _you've packed everything, and—"

"Quiet, woman. Trunks, come here." Vegeta snapped, suddenly appearing in the room.

The teenager blinked, coming out of his reverie. It was nice to see his mother, but sometimes he shamefully found himself tuning out her ramblings. His father's voice sent chills down his spine, but nevertheless he obediently followed him out of the room.

Thick tendrils of fear reached out to suffocate Trunks; he dared not speak lest his fear and anxiety become palpable. Once they were well away from Bulma, Vegeta stopped walked and crossed his arms.

Silence ensured, and neither one quite wanted to break it. Vegata shifted uncomfortably as Trunks simply stood in confusion.

_Speak, idiot! This could be your last chance to talk to your father! _"What do you—" Trunks started, but the prince interrupted him in his usual rude manner.

"You're leaving, brat."

The half-saiyan blinked once. Twice.

"Goodbye. And good luck."

And then he was gone.

The hybrid was so shocked, so dumbstruck that he couldn't move to follow him. _He actually just…_

Trunks smiled.

-Fin-

Not really my best work, but hey, I was bored. I wanted to make the characters seem a little more real than they're portrayed, and have way more emotions and angst. Hell, I'd be just as pissed as Gohan if someone just suddenly dumped the fate of the world on my shoulders.

Hope you enjoyed.

-bleu-blizzard-


End file.
